Tuesday, February 17, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY - In 1956, Missouri became the birthplace of the nation's interstate system by becoming the first state to award a contract under the Federal-Aid Highway Act. Today the Show Me State again made history by being the first state in the nation to award and begin construction on transportation projects funded by the federal economic recovery package signed by President Barack Obama.

The first economic recovery project in the nation is in Miller County on Route 17. Construction began within moments of the president's signature to replace the Osage River Bridge one mile east of Tuscumbia at a cost of $8.5 million. Other Missouri highway projects under construction starting today include:

Barry/Lawrence/Christian/Greene Counties, Route 60 - Construct alternating/intermittent passing lanes from east of Chapell Drive in Monett to Kansas Avenue in Republic. $8.7 million

Clinton County, Interstate 35 - Resurface northbound and southbound lanes from north of Shoal Creek to north of Route 116 near Lathrop. $14.6 million

"Today the Show Me State again showed the nation we are leaders in transportation by having the first economic recovery act project in the country under construction," Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn said. "We promised we would be ready to go to make the best use of every dollar we receive through the economic recovery act to create jobs and make our highways safer. We delivered on that promise and then some."

Missouri will receive approximately $637 million for road and bridge projects and an estimated $150 million to address air, rail, transit, waterway and pedestrian projects throughout the state. That amount of work will create an estimated 14,000 jobs and have an estimated $2.4 billion impact on the state's economy.

"We're taking this aggressive approach to demonstrate that funding for transportation infrastructure can and will provide the direct and immediate economic jumpstart our nation and state need," Rahn said. "We will use every penny sent to our state to improve our roads and bridges and we will be ready to put additional money not used by other states to work in Missouri."

The benefits of this additional work would go beyond those building the projects to suppliers, retailers, restaurants, hotels and other businesses Rahn added.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn is passionate about transportation. But he says he's never been as dedicated to a cause as he is to persuading the Missouri General Assembly to change the state's existing seat belt law to allow primary enforcement.

"If Missouri legislators had passed a primary safety belt law when I first asked them four years ago, about 360 people would still be alive," Rahn said. "You can be pulled over for a burned out license plate light, but not for endangering your life and the lives of others by driving without a safety belt. It just doesn't make sense to me."

Rahn said changing the law would save an estimated 90 lives a year and prevent 1,000 serious injuries. The state also stands to gain at least $16 million in a one-time federal incentive grant to use for safety enforcement, education and engineering. This is the last year the grant is available.

Rahn said Missouri voters were to thank for recent improvements that have made state highways safer. Their approval of Amendment 3 in 2004 redirected highway user funds to MoDOT and enabled the department to make roads smoother and install median guard cable, rumble stripes, wider striping and larger signs. Those improvements, along with education and enforcement by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and other safety partners, have led to a 24 percent decrease in traffic fatalities over the past three years.

But while the total number of highway fatalities decreased last year, the number of deaths where people were not wearing safety belts increased - from 478 in 2007 to 485 in 2008.

"We need a new approach if we're going to continue to save lives, and that approach needs to be a primary safety belt law," Rahn said.

MoDOT is also looking forward to the possibility of additional funding for transportation projects from a federal economic recovery act. The agency has 34 projects it could be ready to go with upon passage of a federal economic recovery act. The projects, which total $510 million, would create about 14,000 jobs and have a $2.4 billion impact on the state's economy.

While the proposed recovery package would help, Rahn said, it won't stop the slide in transportation funding the state is facing.

"Our budget for construction and maintenance is headed toward levels we haven't seen since 2003 when only 44 percent of Missouri's major roads were in good condition," Rahn said. "Today, 83 percent of our roads are in good condition.

"We have to ask ourselves if we're going to stand by and let our roads fall back into disrepair, or if we're going to do something to make sure we have a transportation system that will create jobs for the state, ease congestion and save lives."

Rahn said there are a variety of ways to increase funding for transportation. The challenge is finding one the public will support.

Missouri Department of Transportation

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